Hello and welcome. It is now the end of November and yes we are a day away from December.
I wish I could pause the time and slow it down a bit. I have bought some more gifts and so I have been ordering from Amazon, who I always go too, for some great deals and items. It’s all about sets for me this year and you can get some really good deals.
So you can buy craft sets and games. I have done a gift guide video: @typicallondongal and will be more coming as we get closer.
To help you I have created My Parent Gift guide printable and so here it is:
This has many ideas and I hope that you find them helpful.
For me it is budgeting and of gifts that have longevity and items that will definitely get used, and so find out as the child’s parents of what they are into and have a spending limit and give a child money or a gift card, and they can choose what they want.
So have a good Christmas time and there will be more blogs to come.
I hope you have been liking my series of blogs and in this series it about celebrating birthdays and Christmas gift ideas. In this blog I sharing some great experiences for kids.
Firstly though I would like to share my first Gift Guide video I have uploaded and published on my main Youtube channel. Check it out via this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXwBe4M__Gw
So experiences. They can be brilliant rather than a toy that may never be played with and one year I bought my nieces a experience at Chessington World of Adventures to feed the giraffes and they loved it and created them a letter from Santa to invite them and could choose a day they can go and do it. They ended up being there for nine hours.
Lets support the local theatres and see a show. The are the famous theatres in London but there are local ones, like where my son lives they often put on shows at the Epsom Playhouse and the Polka Theatres. They do a load of kids shows for all ages and the one near me in Wimbledon have a softplay area aswell and I am taking my son to a pantomime at the Wimbledon Theatre and another one at the end of the December in Woking. It is worth it and they don’t have to be for a lot of money. There are companies called Groupon and buyagift.com do special offers on seeing a theatre show and it s great afternoon or evening out.
If you unable to afford it then why not create an experience at home, like a Christmas afternoon tea with turkey sandwiches and cakes. I am taking my son on Saturday to see a football match at AFC Wimbledon and tickets not that expensive, £20 adults and £5 for kids under 18 years.
Why not have a football night and have hot dogs and burgers indoors and can be made into a playdate so they can watch it with their friends, and save you a lot of money and create an invitation to invite their friends around. Make these by hand, with plain and different coloured paper.
Create a camping experience and have them camping out in the garden, if they love camping and again have there friends over to join them and make a bonfire to melt marshmallows. Not necessarily in the winter but create a voucher for it and set a date and write a letter from Santa to tell all about it and what will be included. Like there will be friends coming and games they will play or telling spooky stories.
Arrange a sleepover for your kids and invite other family with their kids around and play party games like, pass the parcel or musical statues. Have them play a board game, which I feature in my gift guide I have linked above of classic games they can play and have a lucky dip.
It is all about making in special and personally for them to have a memorable time and have lots of fun without spending a fortune.
~Why not organize a day where they are in charge of the day and can choose different experiences that can be booked in the year ahead, like go Ice skating. As a kid my mum and her friend would take us to Queensway in London and often at Christmas time they have an ice rink near the museums in South Kensington in London and such good fun. Yes again you may need to save for it but is worth it. Go for a meal at their favourite place and give them a list to write to choose which experience they’d like to do and if they are good get to do what they have chosen and really great to create everlasting memories.
I hope you find these tips helpful and will be doing more blogs as we get nearer to Christmas and birthdays coming, and if you’d like to tell us what experiences you loved that others on this blog would like to read then please do so below.
Hello, hello and hello. Do I say it, that we are approaching the Festive Season of joy , yet because the prices of things going up it can put strain on it rather than enjoying it, so if you have any toys your kids don’t use anymore then why not donate them so other kids can enjoy them too, and work together so we all can still smile and enjoy Christmas.
I filmed my first gift guide yesterday and so this will go up by next week and going to do a series of blog posts and videos of how you can create your own gifts and experiences for Christmas.
Christmas is spending time with family and friends. Forgetting all the hate and things that annoy you and having a good dinner and a good day.
Go second hand, it can really benefit but do you maths. I do buy items and going to find decor in charity shops but still keep a list and have a budget.
You can create your own Advent Calendar and I am going to look around and see the different ones and Poundland often do some brilliant Christmas decor so I will taking a look and my favourite online store Amazon for decor and presents and make them fun.
So it is coming up to Christmas, but it also coming up to check schools out to choose where you want your children to go if they are due to start school he following September and first school year. I felt anxious because Henry had a time where if he saw a gate open or a door, he would go through it and run off and it really caused me to have anxiety over it and so the security of a school was very important and so go through any queries you have before you visit so you know what to ask, if this is a worry for you too.
The other thing is the school values and if they do what they say. Henry has development delay and so needs 1 to 1 support, but because he was behind due to this they in the end couldn’t cater for him when initially said because of their values they would but didn’t and Henry had to go to a different school to continue to get extra learning support and so, if your child has development problems and need 1 to 1 support, find out how they will support your child, and how they will cater to their needs.
When it comes choosing schools do look at the Ofsted report, and if you live far from the school find out by your local authority if they can provide transport. My son gets a free taxi to and from school because of the distance and because his previous school working with the local authority could provide this to us.
The other thing that you may have anxious feelings about, is if your child transitions to school routine, and so ask about what your child will be learning when they start and what is the learning method and if it will suit your child and if they do a moving up day, it is worth going. Henry at first was super anxious and that made me feel it too, and so in the holidays before he started helped him to get excited about it and go through all the good things they will be doing and keep talking about it and how they will make a lot more friends and learn new things.
Then there is food. When in the first two years in the UK children can get free meals up until year 2 and have to start paying from year 3. This however may change but worth asking and what food they serve. Henry at his school he going to now, told me that Henry wasn’t eating his lunch, and so would be super hungry when he came home, and so check if the food that child will eat, if not ask if they are able to bring in their own, and have a packed lunch.
Will they cater to your child’s diet if your child has any allergies to food and ask will the food meet your child’s dietary requirements, as they should cater for all, because of discrimination and if the child eats food for religious purposes.
So I hope these tips help you and chat with other parents you know that can give you support and advice, and raise your concerns, as it is about your child having a good education and that your child gets so much out of it.
The parenting adventures 